The following points of pride represent areas where Northern Arizona University is making progress towards the university's strategic goals.
Goal 1: A learning centered university with a commitment to student success and high expectations for student achievement
- 82% of full-time faculty members teach undergraduate courses
- Quality undergraduate engagement includes research and internship opportunities more commonly offered to graduate students.
- 99% of graduating seniors rate their overall experience at Northern Arizona University “excellent” or “very good.”
- 99% of graduating seniors participate in research or capstone experience.
- 265 clubs and organizations encourage involvement on- and off-campus.
- U.S. News and World Report has ranked NAU's undergraduate engineering program among the best in the nation for the fourth consecutive year.
- A new college guidebook from Kaplan Publishing lists NAU as one of 25 cutting edge schools tied to several of the 50 hottest career choices. The university’s undergraduate programs in criminal justice, nursing, and engineering are among those programs that feed into the publication’s ranking of today’s hottest careers. The publication cites NAU as a campus that has “…many of the features of a large university but still manages to feel small.”
- The university guarantees freshmen a “Finish in Four” graduation plan, providing advisement and necessary courses to complete a degree in four years.
- The university received the largest gift in its history with the $25 million contribution from William A. Franke for the College of Business. The gift recognizes NAU’s distinctivness as a university focusing on residential, undergraduate education.
Goal 2: Provide responsive educational programs to Arizona citizens wherever they live and work
- Northern Arizona University has provided higher education opportunities to students through distance learning for more than 30 years.
- NAU has a presence at 37 sites in Arizona.
- Distance Learning is the fastest growing segment of learners in the United States and at Northern Arizona University.
- The U.S. Distance Learning Association, the nation’s premier distance learning organization, honored NAU’s Distance Learning with the 2007 “21st Century Best Practices Distance Learning Award.” The award goes to institutions with qualities of outstanding leadership, innovation, and technology in the field of distance learning.
- One-third of NAU students are served through Distance Learning.
- NAU currently offers more than 123 degree, certificate, and endorsement programs in person and/or on the web.
Goal 3: Elevate the environmental, economic, social, and cultural vitality of our communities through collaborative stewardship of place
- NAU is home to the greenest building in America and one of the three greenest in the world after receiving a platinum rating for its Applied Research and Development building. The building earned 60 points out of a possible 69 from the Leadership Energy and Environment Design building rating system from the U.S. Green Building Council. Only two other buildings in the world have earned at least 60 points.
- The university earned gold ratings for the buildings that house Engineering and The W.A. Franke College of Business.
- NAU earned an honorable mention in the Sierra Club’s Sierra Magazine’s listing of the nation’s “coolest schools” for its efforts to stop global warming (Nov/Dec, 2007).
- The university’s Rural Policy Institute, which conducts research and policy analysis on a wide spectrum of issues, was awarded University Center status by the U.S. Economic Development Administration.
- In January, 2008, the Conservation Biology journal ranked NAU in the Top 40 (of over 300 universities) for research productivity in the area of conservation biology.
- President Haeger was a charter signatory of the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment that addresses climate change.
- The High Country Conference Center represents a partnership with the city of Flagstaff and demonstrates the university’s role as an economic engine for the community.
- The university is meeting the state’s need for more health-care professionals by expanding health professions programs statewide in such areas as occupational therapy and physician assistants.
Goal 4: Advance the internationalization of the university to prepare students for global citizenship.
- NAU has partnered with several Chinese universities through the China Center for International Education and the American Association of State Colleges and Universities to bring Chinese students and faculty to NAU.
- NAU renewed an agreement with Universidad Internacional in Cuernavaca, Mexico, to provide a language immersion program.
- NAU’s Engineers Without Borders program took students to Ghana to address critical water issues in the community of Yuma.
- Nursing and health science students address global health issues in such places as Kenya, Africa, through the School of Field Studies.
Goal 5: Create a culture of inclusion and civility that contributes to a rich learning experience and helps prepare students for engaged social responsiveness in a global environment
- NAU ranks 10th on the Peace Corps’ 2007 top 25 list of volunteers produced by medium-sized colleges and universities.
- NAU is home to the Institute for Native Americans, the Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals, Native American Student Services, the Multicultural Student Center, the Center for International Education, and the Applied Indigenous Studies program.
- Northern Arizona University Yuma has been designated a Hispanic-serving institution by the U.S. Department of Education. More than 50 percent of the campus’ total population is composed of Hispanic Americans.
- The American Association of State Colleges and Universities has identified NAU as one of 11 publicly funded institutions nationwide that have proven effective in graduating Latino students.
Goal 6: Become the nation’s leading university serving Native Americans
*** The following rankings were published in 2007 for the 2006 academic year
- Ranks sixth in the nation in graduating Native Americans with bachelor’s degrees (Diverse Issues in Higher Education).
- Ranks second in the nation in granting bachelor’s degrees in education to Native Americans (Diverse Issues in Higher Education).
- Ranks eigth in the nation for granting bachelor’s degrees in health professions to Native Americans (Diverse Issues in Higher Education).
- Ranks tenth in the nation for granting bachelor’s degrees in business, management, and marketing to Native Americans (Diverse Issues in Higher Education).
- Ranks 16th in the nation for granting bachelor’s degrees in engineering to Native Americans.
Goal 7: Exemplify and innovative, effective, and accountable learning community
- NAU Distance Learning offers affordable higher education by bringing courses to the communities where people live and work.
- NAU’s block tuition program, which guarantees incoming freshman the same tuition for four years, brings predictability and accountability to the cost of higher education.
- NAU is one of only 12 colleges and universities in the nation, and the only one in the state, to receive a multimillion-dollar grant that has the potential to more than double the number of science and math teachers NAU currently is producing. The program, NAUTeach, gets math and science students into secondary classrooms early to determine if teaching is right for them and also offers financial incentives.
- In November, 2007, the School of Forestry was ranked tenth in the Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index for forestry, which reflects directly both on our faculty and the strength of our graduate Forestry program.